August.....













2008.....














In a land far away.....












Where eating this is in every way normal.....





Where there is no toleration of treason....

And these are frowned upon completely.....

Through the heavy smog of the city.....

Through sounds of unintelligible nonsense.....

Emerges a man.....













From a group forgotten....









Who thinks he has what it takes....





















To make history.










Now switch to British/Australian/New Zealand/South African blend (Eastern European works as well)

The 2008 Olympic marathon will be a race for the ages. Haile Gebrselassie will attempt to cap perhaps the finest distance running career of all time with a final gold medal. The 35 year old Ethiopian is the favorite, having run the two fastest marathons ever in the past six months, a daunting addition to credentials that include 25 other world records. Paul Tergat, former world record holder, and every other male Kenyan from twenty to forty will be in the race as well. Each and every one of them has a legitimate shot of standing atop the podium in Beijing.

This race, however, will carry some wild cards. The August heat is expected to play a decisive factor, as well as the pollution problem that the Chinese government has been trying to rectify ever since they were named host-to-be (which will affect those runners who are allergic, most notably Gebrselassie).

But from a group forgotten emerges forth a 25 year old golden boy from the fairy tale land of California. Since the 1970s, American distance runners no longer compete for world elite status. Ryan Hall, a man so inexperienced and naïve of his own talent, who, in the hilly portion of the Trials, drops a 4:32 18th mile, eases up a bit, and then pushes a 4:34 20th, and afterwards says something so innocent as “I wasn’t trying to make that decisive of a move,” disagrees. Can he restore respect to the once heralded body of American distance running? The sheer anticipation will perhaps be unbearable for some.